Beneath the Skin (de La Vega Cats)

by Lauren Dane

  Christ. That sure wasn’t helping at all.

  He dialed his brother.

  “What’s the story?” Max answered, without any preliminaries.

  “I’ve sent the cat to the holding cells. Gonna sweat him awhile. Says his name is Hal Pepper. Sounds like a fuckin’ character from a Dr. Seuss story. Dario is having Galen look into it. He shot Mia Porter in the thigh. Went clean through. The woman he was with left the scene. But they have surveillance footage. The brother will forward it to my office so we’ll see if we can’t figure out who she is too.”

  “Do you think this is related?”

  “At first he said he was acting alone. Then he said she’d pissed someone off. Probably by saving me. I don’t know for sure, but it’s awfully coincidental, don’t you think? Two cats in the same jamboree shot within the span of a week? And the second shooting victim is the person who helped the first one?”

  “I don’t believe in coincidence.”

  “No. Me either. They didn’t use silver though. With me they did. This was 9mm ammo. Enough to do a shit-ton of damage, even kill her if they’d hit her hard enough and in the right places. But I don’t know why they’d use it on me and not her.”

  Max heaved a sigh. “I connected with Bertram’s second. Not his Bringer. Claims Bertram is in South America right now. Also claims to not know anything about this incident. I find that hard to believe.”

  As did Gibson. At that point, he suspected everyone having anything to do with the Smithville jamboree.

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m questioning Mia. She’s in the shower right now.”

  “Your definition of questioning must be vastly different from mine.”

  Ha.

  “She got shot in the leg. It bloodied her clothing.”

  “Don’t even think I don’t know you smiled when I said that. Keep me apprised.” He hung up. Max knew Gibson would ask for help if he needed it. His brother let him do his job, as their father did before him. That was a source of great pride.

  He wandered around the living room, pausing to look at the photographs. The place smelled like a male, but it was clearly someone she was related to. The resemblance was strong, just like it was with Drew.

  There was a vague memory of her saying it was her brother’s place.

  She’d been a pilot. He knew part of the story because he’d had a quick check of her done after he’d met her. But he saw pictures of her, medals on her chest, and it hit home. What had happened to her after she returned?

  He spoke when she came out of the bathroom moments later. “I ordered some Puerto Rican food. Should be here shortly.” They’d known the phone number and the address so he took a guess that she ordered it frequently.

  Simple delight rode over her features, making her beautiful. “Yes, that works.”

  She’d braided her hair back from her face, exposing her features. “I like your hair like that.” He frowned momentarily, not having had any intention of saying that out loud. “Are you feeling better?”

  She shrugged, the blush she wore heated her skin, sending her scent through his senses. “Better than I was an hour ago, sure.”

  “Sit and get that leg up.” He pointed to the couch, more gruffly than he’d intended.

  “You’re imperious, aren’t you?”

  But she did it.

  “You have two brothers, right?” He leaned forward to tuck a pillow under her knee before sitting down across from her.

  “Yes.”

  “So the bossiness of shifter males isn’t something new to you.”

  “Not new, still annoying.”

  “Difficult.” He sniffed. “Did you recognize the cats who came into your store today? Have you ever seen them before?”

  “No. They came in and I noticed they were shifters. I thought it was funny that I didn’t recognize them. We have regulars from the jamboree.” She sounded nearly defensive and he felt bad anew about what had happened.

  “You’re not shunned, of course you have regulars from the jamboree.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Anyway, no, I didn’t recognize them.”

  “What about from the other night? The night I got shot. What did you scent that night?”

  “Cats first. There aren’t so many of us around here that it’s something I scent very often. Then the gun oil.”

  “And then the shots?”

  “Yes. Three pops. I was less than half the block away from you. They ran, but you were on the ground. I didn’t know if you were alive or not.”

  “You made the right decision.” She’d already described the area to him in detail the night of the shooting, but it was good to go over it again. “Tell me about what happened. With the coma.”

  She looked him over carefully. “It’s a really long and boring story.”

  “You should let me be the judge of that.”

  “Why? Why do you want to know?”

  Why indeed? She was not for him. He had a job to do. He should leave and go do it.

  “Maybe I want to know you.”

  “Why?”

  “You have trust issues.”

  She laughed, this time she was delighted. “I do. My mother told me all about boys like you.”

  It was his turn to laugh. “Like me?”

  “You know. Bad boys. And you’re like, well, like five or six all at once. I bet you own leather pants and have a motorcycle.”

  “I wear the leather when I’m riding.”

  She threw her hands up. “Exactly. Cripes.”

  “What does this have to do with anything?”

  “Take a look at yourself. You are a supreme badass. Boys like you want girls to put out and why the hell not! You move like you know a lot about what to do with a lady’s best parts.”

  He cocked his head. “And you don’t like...putting out? Because, I have to tell you, Mia, despite my better judgment I’d like to get all up in what you’ve got.”

  She nearly choked and then the buzzer sounded.

  He stood. “Food’s here.”

  He smiled once he turned his back. He’d succeeded in getting her nice and befuddled. For whatever reason, this amused him greatly. And it’s not as if he’d lied. He wanted her.

  He paid for the food, and when he’d returned to the living room, she’d set the table. “I’ve got water, juice, milk. The basics.”

  Of course she drank milk. She was wholesome. Which also made him hot.

  “You shouldn’t have gotten up. I’m capable of putting food on a plate for you.”

  “I’m sure you are. But you and I both know you’re going to need me to go down to jamboree headquarters to look at pictures and whatever else.”

  He’d been thinking that. Well, aside from the way he’d been thinking about fucking her. He had some pictures of the cats who’d come to their offices earlier in the week. He wanted to know if she recognized any of them. But he’d been thinking of having Dario bring the stuff to her place.

  “You’re injured.”

  “It’s fine. You can drive me there and I’ll cab it back.”

  He frowned and sat. “You’ll do no such thing.”

  She ignored him as she opened boxes to check what was inside.

  “They had your last order in their system. I just doubled it and added a few things.”

  She loaded her plate. “Thank you.”

  He was the one who needed to be thanking her. She’d gotten involved in this mess, most likely, because of him. And she didn’t seem resentful about it. He might have been in her case.

  “So, you don’t like bad boys?”

  She piled black beans on a tortilla before she glanced his way. “I didn’t say that. I said my mother warned me about them. You’re one
.”

  “Am I?”

  She took several bites. He’d tried dating human women a few times. But he didn’t like having to hide who and what he was. This female though, well, she was thoroughly a Were. She ate with gusto. Moved with that predator’s grace shifters sometimes had. She was a warrior too.

  “Your mother came to the shop today.”

  He looked up quickly and Mia laughed. He had to admire the way she changed the subject so well.

  “She was gracious and I think I avoided having a death sentence put on my head. I just remembered she’d come in. You might want to check in on her. She could have been the target.”

  His phone was in his hand before he was even thinking about it.

  She answered on the second ring. “Hello, Gibson. I hear we had some excitement with the Porters today.”

  Of course she’d have heard already.

  “Yes. I’ll brief you about it later. Mia told me you’d been in today. I wanted to be sure you were all right.”

  “I went in to thank her. As your mother and as jamboree leadership. She’s quite something. Is she well?”

  “She’s been shot. But no silver.” This time. “I’m feeding her and then we’ll go down to the offices so she can look at the pictures we’ve got of Bertram’s cats. I want to see if she can ID any of them.”

  “Can’t it wait until tomorrow? She’s been shot, Gibson. Let the girl rest.”

  Mia snorted and he had to fight his smile.

  “I’d suggest it. But you met her today.” He didn’t say more.

  His mother’s laugh was delighted. “Yes. I imagine she’d tell you she was fine and to just get on with it. See what you can do to get her and her family back involved with the jamboree. I think it’s well past time for it.”

  He didn’t look up to see Mia’s reaction to that.

  “I’m going to have Dario put some extra eyes on you. On Papi too.”

  His mother sighed. “Fine.”

  Mia liked that he called his father Papi. It was sort of adorable without being creepy.

  She frowned as he finished his call to his mother. She’d tossed the visit out there to get him to change the subject, and now Imogene was trying to get him to do her dirty work. Their whole family was sneaky. Which was a quality she generally admired. But it meant most likely he’d turn that let’s-have-sex face on her again, and she was not strong enough to resist.

  She knew her flaws. He was beautiful and masculine and really freaking hot. That in and of itself was hard to say no to. But he was a shifter, like her. There’d be no hiding. No holding back. Which...well, sounded pretty good, but she didn’t need this sort of complication.

  Did she?

  She shook her head, hard. No. She did not. She needed a nice, quiet life. With a nice male who didn’t carry sidearms and look broody.

  Even if looking broody only made Gibson look sexier. Which seemed impossible. But it did.

  “You’re deep in thought.”

  “Just about what I’m putting on my plate next.”

  He snorted. “Sure. And I’m driving you over to the building to look at some video. The cats who attacked me and the ones who attacked you seem connected. And they seem connected to an event that happened three days ago. I don’t want to color your opinion more than that at this point. And then there’ll be no cabs. I will bring you back here myself.”

  “Hmm.”

  His features went wary. It was clear he had some experience with strong women. His mother was one, after all.

  “Hmm isn’t a yes, but I’ll take it as one. You should just be glad I don’t put a bodyguard on you.”

  This time she simply looked at him for long moments. “I think not. I’m perfectly capable—”

  “Of getting shot in broad daylight. These cats aren’t running on a full deck. They’re acting way out of character.”

  “Why? And why me?”

  “Maybe they saw you helping me. Maybe they think you know something. The problem is that I don’t know enough of anything right now and I need your help.”

  Oh. Well.

  She nodded. “I’ll help if I can. But I didn’t see anything that night.”

  “You smelled it though.”

  That was true.

  “Take your time. There’s no rush. I’m leaving that cat in a cell overnight.”

  “Where he’ll have hours and hours to think over what you’ll do to him. Diabolical.”

  Gibson nodded.

  “You’re scary.”

  He smiled at her, just a brief glimpse of those white, white teeth. Goddamn, she really, really wanted to lean in and bite him. Somewhere. Anywhere. His bottom lip would be a good place to start.

  Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. This was a de La Vega. He was not on the menu.

  Chapter Five

  She looked through the video twice and then pointed at the screen with her pen. “That’s the woman who was in the shop earlier. I don’t recognize the male though.”

  He took notes. The female she’d pointed to was a low-ranked cat. She hadn’t even come into the room when he’d met with the Bringer. No wonder she’d run at the first sign of trouble.

  “Have you seen her before? Before today?”

  “I don’t think so. Who are these cats?”

  “They’re members of the Smithville jamboree. Near Nashville.”

  “What’s their beef?”

  “What makes you assume that?”

  “Let’s see. I’m not stupid. You got shot. I got shot. You know, the types of aggressive behavior that don’t normally just happen for kicks, but usually comes from motivation.” Her smile was bright, and Dario studied the floor carefully, a smile flirting at the corners of his mouth.

  “It was a stupid move.” He explained the issue about bringing so many into their territory without asking and how they’d had to be escorted from de La Vega territory.

  “If you did that—I mean, without Max’s permission—what would happen?”

  “That’s not something healthy for a Bringer to do.”

  “Clearly then, it’s motivated by some slight or something someone in the jamboree did, or was perceived to have done to one of their cats. This isn’t random. It’s not stupidity. It’s still stupid, but the acts are on purpose as a response to something they think you did.”

  “Ostensibly. But I can’t get in touch with their Alpha. He’s out of the country.”

  “Convenient.”

  He thought so too. And he didn’t like it one bit.

  “Will you wait for me outside? I’ll be with you shortly and get you home. I just want to speak with Dario a moment.”

  She stood and he didn’t fail to notice the way she kept her weight on her left side. She was still in pain, and he wanted to get her home as soon as possible.

  She left and he turned to Dario. “Anything new?”

  “Nothing. Galen pulled up some stuff on this Hal Pepper guy. He’s from Tennessee. Nothing about the jamboree, not that membership in a paranormal organization is such public news.”

  “Call Bertram’s second. I want this answered for and I want those answers now. I’ll go down there if I have to. They really shouldn’t make me.”

  Dario nodded and Gibson knew Dario would make that point.

  “No one in to see Hal. He’s not to make calls or any other kind of contact. I’ll be back in the morning to question him. I’m going to get Mia home. Call me if anything comes up.”

  He went out to catch her at a window, looking out over the city.

  “I missed Boston. When I was in Iraq. And then when I was in Los Angeles. I wanted to be home.”

  He walked with her to the elevator and then down to the garage. “I’ve traveled a fair bit. But I’m alway
s happy to come back here. Shitty drivers and all.”

  She smiled. “I rarely drive here. I just take the T everywhere.”

  He hoped she did less of that while these cats were out and about.

  “Leaves you exposed.”

  She snapped her seatbelt. “Public transportation? Probably. But I know how to defend myself.”

  “What did you do in the military?”

  “I was a pilot. Supply mainly.”

  “That where you got hurt?”

  “I got hurt in Iraq several times. Lots of people shooting at you, all the time.”

  He remained quiet as he pulled out onto the road and headed back toward her building.

  “The attack happened in Los Angeles. A few months after I’d been discharged.”

  She stared out the window and he wanted to touch her, reassure her. He was sure it was tied in to her being one of his cats. After all, his family had run de La Vega for generations. That’s all it was.

  “Hey, Gibson, there’s a car following us.”

  He forgot about her skin for a moment. “What makes you say so?”

  “Headlights. Same shape and size. Following us from the building and through the last three turns you made.”

  He kept an eye on the car she’d indicated.

  “How’d you learn to see if you were being tailed?”

  “I can’t say I knew much at all until Iraq. Now I know.” Her laugh was rueful.

  “Were you ambushed?”

  “More than once.”

  And then she braced her arms. “We’re going to be hit. Do you have a weapon?”

  He turned, and saw the car coming toward them. Toward her side of the SUV. So he sped, maneuvering between traffic and narrowly avoiding the crash.

  “Glove box. It’s loaded.”

  She pulled the Sig out and checked the clip.

  “Turn left up here. If you go around the park you can bypass the congestion up ahead.”

  He obeyed, knowing she was right.

  He ordered his phone to dial Dario and told him where they were and what was going on.

  “Later-model Jeep SUV. Bronze. Charlie, Tango, Racetrack 145. Man at wheel is white male. The tail appears to be a sedan. An Audi. Nice taste your violent little friend has.” She spoke as she continued to scan the area.